National CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) Association and the Toy Industry Foundation have partnered at the national level to provide toys and increase the number of trained CASA volunteers to benefit children in the foster care system. The Toy Industry Foundation will donate more than 25,000 toys to CASA this year. The launch of this partnership will take place at the Toy Industry Foundation’s Play Your Part volunteer event on April 5 in Los Angeles.

National CASA, a network of 946 community based programs that recruit, train, and support citizen-volunteers to advocate for the best interests of abused and neglected children in courtrooms and communities, will be working with CASA programs across the country to identify and distribute the donated toys to children in the foster care system.

Former foster youth, CASA volunteers, and special guests will share their personal stories at Play Your Part, joining more than 100 Toy Industry Foundation volunteers from Southern California toy companies to package and sort more than 16,000 toys for local foster youth. Walmart is donating the use of two tractor-trailers to ship toys to destinations throughout Southern California, and World Vision has donated the space for the event. Mattel, Leapfrog Enterprises, Funrise Toy Corporation, and Women in Toys are additional event sponsors.

New Products

Marvel’s Ant-Man is still going strong in theaters, and so is Disney Consumer Products’ (DCP) and Marvel‘s Ant-Man product collection. The lineup includes costumes, construction sets, action figures, and more from licensees such as Hasbro, LEGO, Funko, Hot Wheels, Rubie’s Costume Co., and Uncle Milton.

Skechers USA Inc. has partnered with Jakks Pacific Inc. to launch a new line of dolls based on Skechers’ popular Twinkle Toes character. The initial launch includes four unique dolls that stand 6.5 inches in height, and are dressed in colorful, fashion-forward outfits and light-up Skechers Twinkle Toes shoes.

LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. will release three new preschool toys—the Number Lovin’ Oven and Scout’s Build & Discover Tool Set, which offer pretend play experiences that teach math and measurement, respectively—and the Word Whammer, a phonics game that prepares children for kindergarten in an active way.

Now available from VTech, Flipsies combine traditional role play with collectible dolls and accessories, as well as VTech’s proprietary MagicPoint interactive technology. The line offers a variety of ways to play and has eight introductory themes that encourage girls to be anything they want to be, whether it’s a doctor, a marine biologist, a teacher, [...]

Merchantwise, ITV Studios Global Entertainment’s appointed licensing agency in Australia, has announced strong toy and DVD sales, as well as a host of new licensing and retail partners, for the TV series Thunderbirds Are Go in Australia.